The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to providing a connector status indicator for a connector in an information handling system while ensuring cooling of that connector.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems such as, for example, server devices, networking devices, storage devices, and/or other computing devices often utilize connectors for allowing connections to those computing devices. Furthermore, the operation of those connectors can produce relatively large amount of heat that must be dissipated using heat dissipation structures provided on the connectors. For example, Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) optical cable connectors produce relatively large amounts of heat, and are typically provided with heat sinks located on a top surface of the QSFP-DD connector that include spaced apart fins that are provided to conduct heat generated by the QSFP-DD connector so that the heat may be dissipated by an airflow that moves past those fins. However, many conventional computing devices also provide status indicators (e.g., connector status indicators or other computing device subsystem status indicators known in the art) that are visible adjacent the portion of the QSFP-DD connector that is accessible on an outer surface of the chassis of the computing device, and the provisioning of those status indicators raises some issues.
For example, conventional status indicators utilized with QSFP-DD connectors are provided via a rigid light pipe structure that is mounted to the QSFP-DD connector, with rigid light pipes that extends between the fins on the heat sink to route each of the rigid light pipes to respective status indicator apertures that are defined on the chassis of the computing device adjacent the connector apertures defined on the chassis of the computing device that provide access to the QSFP-DD connector. The positioning of the status indicator apertures on the chassis prevents airflow apertures from being positioned immediately adjacent the connector apertures, and results in the provisioning of airflow apertures opposite the status indicator apertures from the connector apertures. As such, conventional status indicators reduce the amount of airflow from entering and/or exiting the chassis of the computing device through airflow apertures, and result in a reduction of airflow from being channeled between the fins of the heat sink. Thus, such conventional status indicators utilized with such connectors provide status indications at the expense of the cooling of those connectors.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved connector cooling and status indicator system.